I am Red. I am a Survivor. This is my journey.

I graduated!

I’ve attended a few graduations in my years. My big sister’s helped prepare me for what to expect a year later at my high school graduation. When I graduated with my two year degree, I was excited and surprised to receive an award for excellence. For my four year degree, I had initially decided not to walk the stage but later decided to walk – with my family cheering me on from the crowd.

Today’s graduation was a bit different. It wasn’t a two or four year event in the making but it had been a long process for the past four months. Initially focusing on one area and then moving to the next, the progress could be seen but the emotional and physical stresses could not. A few weeks ago I decided to slow down my expansion process by adding on one more so that the pain and discomfort would ease over the weekend following each expansion. This has greatly improved my comfort level and I still finished when I wanted.

So today, I received my last saline expansion for a total of 620 cc on the right and 670 on the left. Though the expanders are positioned oddly (to me), I feel a new sense of comfort and relief…a new normal. I have graduated from the weekly visits to the plastic surgeon and although I will miss the laughter and jokes, I am glad I won’t be returning for 3 months. There isn’t a stage to walk across in celebration of today but there is a massive smile on my face that basically sums up my thoughts. Hooray!